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MUMBAI: Top business school campuses are seeing a revival in hiring by manufacturing companies amid confidence that prospects are set to improve in 2016. Leading business schools including IIM Calcutta, IIM Trichy, MDI Gurgaon, IMI Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad and BIM Trichy have seen manufacturing companies hiring in large numbers after a lull of several years.

Recruitment has risen by as much as 40%, both in the case of institutes that have completed final placements as well as others that are seeing a jump in the number of pre-placement offers (PPOs) besides laterals.

Among companies that were first timers at campuses this year or are hiring after a gap of four-five years were the Hinduja Group, Honda Motor Co. of Japan, Hyundai Motor India, TVS Motor, the Murugappa Group, Sundaram Clayton, 3M, Bajaj Electricals, Saint Gobain and Welspun, according to placement cells. They joined regulars such as Tata Motors, Reliance, Tata Steel and Asian Paints.

"At MDI Gurgaon, the number of manufacturing firms offering management positions during the laterals has increased 10% from last year," said Kanwal Kapil, placements chairperson. "PPOs offered by manufacturing firms have seen a 40% rise from last year's offers. There is a huge increase in the interest level of manufacturing firms seeking out MDI Gurgaon in order to participate in the final placement process."

Global mining and manufacturing conglomerate 3M has been taking students for the summer from BIM Trichy in the past three years but would back at final placements because the business outlook didn't permit hiring. But this year, 3M has hired two candidates at a salary of Rs 15 lakh each.

"There are new companies coming and recruiting in large numbers. We have seen 40% increase in hiring by manufacturing companies. Revival in sectors such as transportation, automobile, infrastructure has led to this revival," said Abhishek Kumar, assistant professor at BIM Trichy. 3M was among first timers at the campus this year, while Vedanta, TVS Motor and Ultramine Chemicals hired after a gap of about half a decade.

"The central government is working hard on the policy front including GST, labour reforms, etc., besides trying to improve infrastructure and creating smart cities," said Maclean Raphael, executive director, human resources, 3M India Ltd. "There is a growing optimism... We continue to build our leadership pipeline from campuses. We are visiting campuses such as IIFT, BIM Trichy, TAPMI for the first time this year and IIM Kozhikode after a gap of a few years." 3M's campus hiring is up 10-15% this year from last year.

Debi Prasad Das, senior vice president for human resources at RPG Group company Ceat, said recruitment was up in the sector.

"Yes, I agree that there is an upsurge in B-School hiring and we (RPG) as a group have to be really attractive as a brand and competitive in overall package to attract right talent on day one. We are likely to increase our campus hiring to support our growth plan," said Das. "Last decade saw IT and financial services leading the campus pack. There is optimistic sentiment that manufacturing will lead the growth with India becoming a leading manufacturing hub for the globe."

Indian companies are expanding internationally and need talent to sustain growth besides which they're also losing executives to the startup boom, hence the rush to tap business schools.

Vedanta will step up hiring by almost 25% this year.

"A major initiative that we plan to drive this year is to hire a few high-calibre management graduates from leading IIMs for specially carved out critical roles in the organisation, where they will work directly with (group) CEOs to bring transformative change in their respective businesses," said Suresh Bose, head of HR at Vedanta Resources.

Factory output data backs the optimism. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered a growth of 4% in the April-September period compared with 2.9% in the year earlier. On average, the manufacturing sector registered a growth of 4.2% in the first half versus 2.2% in the year earlier. Output of capital goods, a barometer of investment, has witnessed growth in 10 out of 11 months through September, suggesting enhanced government spending has started to have a positive impact. On a cumulative basis, the sector registered a growth of 7.4% in the first half compared with 4.8% in the year earlier.

"There is a revival in interest from manufacturing companies. They are hiring for operations, marketing, finance and other managerial roles," said Abhishek Totawar, professor and placement in charge at IIM Trichy.

IMI Delhi, which wrapped up final placements in November, has seen a 33% increase in recruitments by the manufacturing sector. New hirers this year included General Motors, Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp, said Manaswini Acharya, dean, placements and corporate relations.

"They offered varied leadership and sales profiles, some of which were very unique. More than 10 companies from this specific sector are expected to visit IMT Ghaziabad in the next two months," said Vishal Goyal, group head, corporate relations, IMT Ghaziabad and Dubai.

IIM Calcutta confirmed the trend. "We have seen new recruiters for our Visionary Leadership in Manufacturing programme, a one-year, full-time residential PGPX (post-graduate programme in management for executives) programme, indicative of the revival in interest in campuses from the industrial sector," said Rajiv Kumar, placement chairperson of IIM Calcutta.